Who inspiried you? Tell us a little about his or her life.

Over the course of my life, I have had many inspirations: Elmo, Eragon, Neil Armstrong, Princess Diana and a multitude of others. As I progressed through my collegiate years, I began to see more clearly the focal point of all these inspirations: my mother. As cheesy as that sounds, my mother has been with me through my worst moments, and my very best. She's provided me with the necessary tools to look up to these aforementioned inspirations, as well as in believing in myself. Growing up, she was not given the same luxuries that I am accustomed to. She never made it college for lack of funds, and has been working all her life to make up for it. She has told me time and again the struggles she dealt with to secure a better life. Fortunately, she succeeded. Because of this, she instilled in me early on the importance of attending college, and has financed me through this long journey. I don't think there is anything substantial that I could do to truly thank her for my life. While naturally she has her "mom moments," (moments in which both me and her are equally annoyed) she is a strong women and wants me to succeed. This need to be strong for my mother, to finish college and go where she has not, is what inspires me. It is difficult, no doubt. There are many times where I want to throw it in and give up. But I don't, because of my mother.

What is your favorite moment in history?

I do love reading about history, and historical fiction. There are many topics that have captured my interest over the years, and I therefore have many favorites. As terrible as it sounds, tragedy fascinates me. I gravitate towards topics that detail the atrocities of humanity. Thus this explains the reason for my choosing the Holocaust as one moment in history that interests me. I find it simply astonishing that one man, Adolf Hitler, changed an entire country's perspective and murdered millions of innocent people on the basis of their religion. Even more astonishing, is the fact that thousands upon thousand of people ignored what was happening, and blamed it on "the cost of war." For these reasons, I find books, articles, movies, and other works on the Holocaust interesting. It is one of the most horrific and notorious tragedies to ever occur, and I simply can never wrap my head around it. That is,viewing the Holocaust with my modern societal views, it seems absolutely impossible to think that something like that could happen. And yet, it did. To this day, some people (albeit moderately insane people) debate wether or not this event actually occurred. It's laughable to think that there is opposition in the face of so much evidence to the contrary. All in all, while I cannot say I enjoy reading about the Holocaust, I can say that it fascinates me.

Write about a conflict central in the lives of adolescents

A conflict that is central in the lives of modern adolescents concerns the era of technology. Specifically, the cell-phone "addiction." It has been reported on time and again these past few years about just how addicted adolescents are when it comes to staying connected with their phones, and with social media. Joel Stein, a writer for Time Magazine, described modern adolescents as the "me, me, me generation." He delves into the pro's and con's of adolescent's inherent need for "likes" on their posts, and in constantly capturing moments on their phones. Specifically, he states that while this may render adolescents entitled and lazy, they are the new "Great Generation." That is, adolescents are powerful. In my opinion, I do believe that adolescents (and society in general) have become too attached to cell-phones and social media. We strive for likes on a photo, and in capturing moments on the phone, rather than living them. I admit, I find myself sitting for hours on Facebook, neglecting more important tasks, simply scrolling and scrolling. While there are certain benefits to this vast worldwide connection, there are some downfalls; disconnection with one's surroundings being one of them. In a world where technology continuously grows however, this problem is not too easily fixed. As modern adolescents are in the focal point of this conflict, it is ultimately up to them to choose a side.

What fictional hero do you look up to?

To be fair, I don't really admire many fictional hero's. As I mostly enjoy historical fiction, the hero's are usually based upon real people. When I was younger however (around middle school I believe), I used to read the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini. I would say that I admired the hero of these books, Eragon. He began as a weak character, and by the end of the series was a strong character, both in physical and mental respects. I suppose I looked up to this character because he contained aspects that I was, and that I aspired to have. The series contains four main books. In the first two, Eragon is learning about his newfound skills, honing them, and trying to save his family. In final two, Eragon is a strong character, and faces different hardships. In all of the books however, he maintains his sense of familial responsibility, realizes his weaknesses in character, and tries to improve. He deals with the death of his family, many of his friends and allies, and others in a very mature manner. As a young middle school student, these qualities where ones that I somewhat had or had heard about, but wanted to strengthen. While I was not warding off any magical dragons or wars, I was going through a period of change much like Eragon. These series helped me through these tumultuous years, and allowed me to see that change was okay, and so was defeat. Eragon was a fun and enticing character to read about; while he was a fantasy character, he contained relatable characteristics that I could model, and see in others. For these reasons and more, I can say that Eragon was and is a fictional hero I look up to.

Original Poetry

Writers Block

There you sit, ever so serene. Watching the goings-on of night, Through that sheer slate of window glass.

You survey the blackness of streets, The colorless forest, Beams of light reducing the sky, To pockets of time With names not unforgotten But unknown.

You try, and move, and plead, To write your thinkings down, The corner mirror showcasing your struggles, Etching black and blue, Making permanent what is your heart.

The colorless forest is boring, The beams of light, rather overused, And pockets of time are quite unclear.

Useless, these efforts are. Your white paper Retains the whiteness it was made of, Links your etchings to nothing But confusion, While it laughs at your efforts.

And there you remain, ever so serenely. Perhaps tomorrow, You can try again.

What and Why do You Read?

Simply put, I love to read. My enjoyment in reading began at a young age, probably around first or second grade, and has held strong to my present days. While I enjoy reading a variety of genres, my favorite type is historical fiction. I enjoy delving into the past and experiencing the different events. Reading allows me to not so much as escape the world, but open my mind to different possibilities. Quite often, after I finish a particular historical novel, I end up researching it. I have learned so much in the way of history because of my fascination with this genre. There is a brilliance attached to the authors of historical fiction. To write a good, gripping, historical novel an author must stay true to many of the historical facts, perspectives, fashions ect. of that time. It takes copious amounts of research and patience to craft a historical novel. That is one of the many reasons I have so much respect for these authors in particular. As a reader, when I pick up a book, I expect to be swept into an enticing story. It is quite disappointing when a book fails to do that. As of late, I have found that I do not have much time for leisure reading as I used to in high school. In my high school years I would finish a book about every week or two weeks. Nowadays, I'm lucky if I finish the book in a month. Hopefully, I can find some time during the summer to pick up some books.

Free Write

I recently decided that I would take up running, again. I used to run a lot in high school but I stopped when I entered college. Initially, I blamed it on my lack of free time. But as the years wore on, and I found free time for other things, I could no longer come up with an excuse (laziness being the only real reason). This semester, despite taking six classes (rather than my usual five) I have made the time for running. Unsurprisingly, it was a painful start. My legs and knees ached, so much so that some days I could barely walk. I was often exhausted after my workouts, and found my lack of energy effecting my schoolwork and my job. But, I made the conscious effort to keep on and pushed through the pain. In part, this was due to my inherent need to become a runner again. But also, my good friend (who is an avid runner) strongly motivated me to continue with my journey. At present, I have re-found the enjoyment I get from running. As cliche as it sounds, running clears my head and allows me to focus better on my tasks, especially with homework. I feel the rush of endorphin's in my brain when I finish, and I feel I have accomplished something. This rush allows me to believe that I can accomplish other things such as essays, tests, and the like. I still get the aches and pains in my legs and knees, but ones that are bearable. It will probably be a few months yet before I can run again without a mild struggle. The reason for this posting however is twofold. For one, I wanted to write my thinking's down to better understand my own motivations for running again. The other, is to understand what I have learned from this struggle. While the obvious lesson of pushing oneself is evident, I wanted to find the deeper "lessons" and/or values within. My motivations are clear: to regain my stamina, become a runner again, and be cognitively and physically healthy. As of yet, these "lessons" that I am trying to connect and apply to other areas of my life, I am still in search for. These motivations and lessons are keenly different, and it is important (for anyone) to understand them. While my motivations are what started my newly active lifestyle, these obscure "lessons" are what will keep me going (I hope). It is becoming increasingly difficult to go outside and run (mainly because of the freezing temperatures) without a value or goal I want to attain. I have become a (somewhat) runner again, I have increased my stamina, and I am on the healthy path (save for the holiday season). There is seemingly no reason to continue on then right? Wrong. There is a reason, or many reasons, and it is obscure and personal and I have yet to find it. I want running to become a part of my life again, as it was in high school. However, while the motivations are similar, the reasons I ran then are quite different than the reasons I run now. I will remain optimistic, however, in my quest.